A cobporatiobt obi haute



H. S. HART.

000R QPERAUNG MECHANISM. APPLICAHON FILED mm. 2s. m9.

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

H. S. HART.

DOOR ommms mecmmsm.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26. I919.

wk mm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ml! 5. HART, OF GHIOAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGHOR TO NATIONAL DUMP 00., O1

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION OF MAINE.

DOOBPOPEEATING- MEOHANISH.

Specification 01 Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

Application filed Batch 26, 1910. Serial No. 285,210.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I HARRY S. HART, a citizen of the United tates, residing at Chica 0, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Operating Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to door operating mechanism particularly in connection with general service cars.

The objects of the invention are to provide a simple and eiiicient door operating mechanism which is positive in its action, so arranged that no strain is placed 11 on the mechanism tending to distort it, t us minimizing repairs; to provide a device which can be easily operated; and provide an operatin crease the e ciency of the car in unloading.

General service cars, as is well known have their flat bottoms composed largel o dro doors from which the dumpable lading is discharged. It has been customary in the past to provide operating mechanisms for these doors by means of which a plurality of doors can be closed and opened simultaneously. The classes of 0 crating mechanisms heretofore used, genersilly. speaking, are of two kinds; those which employ a winding shaft connected by chains or flexible elements to the doors, and those in which the shaft placed beneath the doors operates directly to raise the same.

The first class of device is open to the objection that, owing to the weight of the doors, the chains or flexible elements connecting the doors to the shaft are apt to stretch or kink unequally, so that some of the doors cannot be fully closed making it impossible to transfer the load from the chain to the shaft through devices usually employed. Cars having these chain and shaft operated doors are open to the further objection that the chains are in the path of the outcoming load as it is discharged, thus hindering the free flow of the material from the car.

Cars of the second class, that is, those employing the shaft as the direct operating member for the doors, while free from the last named objection, are apt to become defective because of the torsional strains imosed upon the shafts in closing the doors.

hese shafts extend approximately one-half device so arranged as to in-,

or underframe requiring cleaning off.

the length of the car and are 0 erated from the end of the car by rolling t e shaft back and forth beneath the doors. The shaft ends farthest from the ends of the car, owin to the torsional strains upon the shaft, wi I sometimes become distorted, so that certain of the doors will not be fully closed. This is especially true if small amounts of material are left upon the doors, requiring the exercise of unusual eifort to compel the shaft to move into fully closed position.

My new door operating mechanism disclosed in this application overcomes the ob- Lections to both types of mechanism, there eing no chains to interfere with the lpad or to become stretched, and there being no shaft for directly raisin or supporti the doors. The closing of tlie doors by @ing each door sin can be done with less effort, and proba y in less time, than a complete section can be raised b the old devices, while the dropping of t e doors may take place in sections.

Another advantage'in lifting the doors singly is that the operator sees any objects of material When the doors are raised from the end of the car as is now commonly done, it is not always possible to notice these things,

eing that attem ts are frequently made to close the doors w en particles of coal are interposed between the edge of the door and the adj acent underframe member, thus putting a great strain upon the operating mechanism in attempting to force doors into fullyl closed position.

T e inventlon is illustrated on the accompanying sheets of drawings, in which-- Flgure 1 is a fragmentar side elevation of a general service car em odying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same; and

Fig. 3 is a detail bottom plan view of a dump door equipped with my operating which may be left on the door the result at which are ivotally connected at their inner ends to t e center sill structure 13, the framework of the car including transverse supporting and strengthening members 14, which are provided with stop members 15 upon which the dump doors 12 rest when in an open position. i I

This invention has to do primaril with the door operating mechanism. aving in mind the disadvantages of door operating devices heretofore employed and the advantages of this resent door operating mechanism, as heremabove set forth, attention is called to the fact that each of the dump doors is raised from an open position into a closed position separately and independently of any other one of the doors. Secured to the bottom of each of the dump doors 12 is a bracket 16, connected to the middle portion of which is pivotally connected, at 17, a lever 18, to one end of which is pivotally connected, at 19, a locking member 20. Pivotally connected at 21 to an intermediate point of the lever is another locking member 22. The outer end of the member 18 has a handle portion 23, whereby the locking members 22 may be moved toward and away from a locking position. The ends of the locking members 20 and 22 respectively are adapted to pass into recesses or looking pockets 24. formed in castings 25 secured to the frame membars 14.

Let it be assumed that all of the dump doors 12 are in their open position, as shown at the ri ht hand of Fi 2. To raise each one of these doors individually to its closed position, the same is accomplished by grasping the handle 23 and lift mg the same upwardly, it being understood that the handle 23 is 1n its central position, with the locking members 20 and 22 in an unlocked position. When each door has been raised into its closed position, the handle 23 may be swung in one direction to cause the locking members 20 and 22 to move into the locking openings 24 of the brackets 25, whereu on the doors will be locked or supports in their closed position, this loc ing movement of the handle 23 being the final locking movement. The handle 23 also takes a locking osition, in which it overlies a projecting 1p 26 of a bracket 27 secured to the frame of the car. Each door, therefore, when locked in closed position, is locked at three points, at the rackets 25 and bracket 27.

While there are many advanta sin raisin the doors into a closed position indivi ually and locking said doors in closed osition individually, ashereinabove set orth, there are advantagesalso in releasing a plurality of the doors simultaneously for dumpin purposes. To this end, I have provide means for releasing a plurality of doors simultaneously,and preferably there are four releasin means for each car, that is, one re easin means for each quarter of the car. releasing means takes the form of a longitudinally extending and lon itudinally movable bar member 28, slida ly supported upon the outer ends of the frame member 14, each of said her members having a pluralit of down- Wardly extending arms or projections 29, which are adapted to move the handles 23 and the lockin members 20 and 22 connected thereto rom a locking position into an unlocking position, for releasing a plurality of doors simultaneously for dumping purposes.

As shown particularly in Fig. 1, it will be noted that the longitudinally extendin bar member 28 has pivotally connects thereto, at 30, a control lever 31, which is pivotallg supported at 32, intermediate its ends. s shown in said figure, the dump doors are all looked in closed position with the handle 23 in each case overlying the supporting lip 26 the unlocking projection 29 secured to the bar member 28 in each case lying in juxtaposition to the handle 23. If now the control lever 31 is moved in a clockwise direction, the bar member 28 will be moved to the left, causing its projections 29 to move the handles 23 to the left, out of supporting engagement with the supporting lips 26, moving the lockin members 20 and 22 out of engagement with the brackets 25 and into unlocking position, whereupon the dum doors in that section of the car controlle by the releasing lever 31 will drop into an open position simultaneously for dumping pur oses.

The door operating mec anism has all 105 of the advantages hereinabove mentioned in connection with raisin the dump doors into closed position indi-vlduall and looking the said dump doors indivi ually without the use of chains or shafts as heretofore 110 used. Furthermore, these doors are not supported in their closed position by chains or shafts, as has been the case heretofore, chains and shafts bein eliminated in the construction here disc osed; and at the 115 same time a plurality of doors are released to dro into an open osition simultaneously y mechanism w ich is simple and effective, the door operating mechanism being adapted to meet all of the requirements 120 under service conditions.

It is my intention to cover all modifications of the invention falling within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a general service car having a plurality of doors, means for closing said doors individually, and means common to a plurality of the doors and movable lengthwise of the car for releasing saiddoors.

may be locked in said ously.

doors for movi 2. In a general service car having a plurality of doors, means for closing sa d doors individually, means for individually, and means common to a plurality of doors and movable lengthwise of the car for unlocking the doors simultane- 3. In a rality oi sition individu y and doors for movifi said doors into a given position individu y and whe by said doors may be locked in said position, the locking action by said handle being the final look ing action, and a, slidably mounted member having lease said handles for releasing a plurality of said doors simultaneously.

5. In a. general service car having a door, a lever connected thereto, a locking member pivotally connected to said lever and movable into locking and positions by operation of said lever sai door bein raised individually a lockedthrong movement of said lever, and a bar mounted for longitudinal movement with respect to said car operatively connected to said lever for moving said locking member into an unlocking position.

6., In a general service car having a door, a lever pivotally connected thereto, locking members pivotally connected to said lever and movable into locking and unlockin positions b said lever, and coiiperatin ocking mem ers carried by the frame of t e car for said locking members and lever, said locking said doors ortions adapted to engage and rethrou h movement of said lever. 7. n a general service car having a door,

'alever pivotally connected thereto, locking members pivotall connected to said lever and movable into ocking and unlockin positions by said lever, coiiperati lognng members carried by the frame of; 0 car for said locking members and lever, and means for actuating said lever for mov ng the look ing members into an unlockin position, said door being raised individua y and locked through movement of said lever. 8. In a general service car having crosswise and l -'tud1inally extend' frame members, stationa locking mem rs carried thereby, a pivotally mounted dum door, a lever pivotall connected to sai door and having a hen 1e portion, and movable locking members ivotally connected to said lever and mova 1e into locking relationship with certain of said stationary locking members bymovement of said lever, said lever also moving into a locking relationship with one of the Stationary locking members, said door also being raised individually through said hand lever.

. 9. In a general service car having cross wise and longitudinally extending frame members," stationary locking members carried thereby, a. pivotally mounted dumg door, a lever pivotally connected to sai door and having a handle portion, movable locking members pivotally connected tosaid lever and movable into locking relationship with said stationary lock members by movement of said lever, said our also belng raised individually through said hand lever, and means cooperating with the lever for moving the lever and movable, locking members into an unlocking position.

Slifned at Chicago, Illinois, the 22nd day of arch, 1919. V a

HARRY s. HART. 

